According to Alaska Wildlife Trooper David Lorring, the 36-year-old woman was seriously injured when she went for a jog near her home on Chinook Drive, a neighborhood near the Pillars Boat Launch on the Kenai River, sometime between 5 and 5:30 a.m.
"She made it probably 50 yards from her house," Lorring said. "The bear came out of another property, it looks like it attacked her ... and dragged her approximately 100 yards down the road onto this guy's property."
Lorring said the man was a neighbor who had awakened to noises before daylight, which he assumed were coming from a bear. He went outside to inspect once it was light out, about a half hour later.
"He heard the barking, wolfing sound of a bear, he'd been around bears before and he thought a bear might have got a dog and was doing something in the neighborhood," Lorring explained. "He didn't really think much of it and then he heard it some more. [In] daylight, he walked out there and located a female in the woods on his property. "
Lorring said the woman was bleeding from substantial wounds to her face and scalp but was conscious and able to talk, despite being in shock. She was medevacked to an Anchorage hospital for treatment.
When authorities arrived on scene, the bear had left, but is believed to be a brown bear based on tracks and other evidence.
Wildlife Troopers, Fish and Game and Kenai Police searched the area but were unable to find it.
Lorring said there was no sign the bear was protecting a food source and it's likely the woman took it by surprise. Troopers said initially that if located, the bear would be put down, but Lorring said it would be difficult to determine which bear was involved. He also said it's possible the bear had left the area.
Lorring said troopers and police will have patrols in the neighborhood for the next few days and people there are asked to stay vigilant. When asked if there is anything else people can do, Lorring said it's good to remember that bears are out at this time of year eating salmon and berries as they bulk up for winter.
Mostly, Lorring said, people need to be aware and prepared.
"If you do get out in the woods, make sure you can hear your surroundings and what is going on," he said. "And that can be as simple as putting in one AirPod and not two."
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